Shoe sewing machine



Nov. 9, 1937. B, T, LEVE E 2,098,298

SHOE SEWING MACHINE Original Filed March 12, 1935 6 Sheets-Sheet l I fl wentor W/% attornegs Nov. 9, 1937. T, LEV E 2,098,298 v SHOE SEWING MACHINE Original Filed March 12-, 1935 6 Sheet-Sheet 2 {IJJ I Zifiventbr fay/ Gttorneg I Nov. 9, 1937. B. T. LEVEQUE 2,098,298

SHOE SEWING MACHINE Original Filed March 12, 1935 s Sheets-Sheet s WWW H." w I 7 Original Filed March 12, 1935 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 CIttomeus Nov; 9, 1937. B. 'r. LEVEQUE SHOE SEWING MACHINE Original Filed March 12, 19:55

6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Nov. 9, 1937. B. T. LEVEQUE 2,998,293

SHOE SEWING MACHINE Original Filed March 12, 1935 6 Sheets-Sheet 6- Patented Nov. 9, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE.

SHOE SEWING MACHINE Original application March 12, 1935, Serial No.

10,621. Divided and this application May 12,

1936, Serial No. 79,283. Renewed February 13,

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to presser foot mechanism for shoe sewing machines.

The object of the invention is to provide a presser foot mechanism oi improved construction and '5 arrangement suitable for use in high speed sewing machines, and particularly but by no means exclusively adapted for use in curved hook needle lockstitch o-utsole shoe sewing machines. of the type illustrated and described in applicants copending application Serial No. 10,621, filed March 12, 1935, the present application being a division of said case.

With this and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, the present invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, the advantages of which will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the following description. 20 In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of the head of a shoe sewing machine embodying the invention; Figure 2 is a detail view, in side elevation, partly in section, illustrating the work support, presser foot 25 and feed carriage; Figure 3 is a detail sectional view in side elevation showing the work support and presser foot in relation to certain of the stitch-forming devices; Figure 4 is a detail sectional view illustrating the presser foot actuating 30 and controlling mechanism; Figure 5 is a plan view of certain of the parts illustrated in Figure 4; Figure 6 is a detail sectional view of the presser foot mechanism illustrated in Figure 5, taken on the line 66 of said figure, the parts being in the position they assume when the machine is at rest; andFigure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6 with the parts in the position they assume while the machine is in operation sewing a seam, the presser foot mechanism. being shown in unclamped position.

The work feeding mechanism illustrated in the drawings is of that type in which the work is fed intermittently by the cooperating action of a work support and presser *foot constructed and arranged to engage respectively the welt and outsole of a shoe. Referring to Fig. 3, the work support is indicated at 2 and the presser foot at 4, both of these parts being mounted upon a feed carriage in the form of a slide 6 mounted for advancing and retracting movements in the line of feed on fixed guides 8 and in. The work support 2 is rigidly secured to an arm projecting forwardly from the slide 6 and the presser foot 4 is secured to the forwardly extending arm of a presser foot lever l2 pivotally mounted upon the slide 5. The lever I2 is connected to. the cam shaft of the machine through mechanism hereinafter described, by which the lever is actuated to cause the work to be gripped between the presser foot 4 and the work support 2 and to be released during each stitch forming cycle of the machine. The feed slide 6 is advanced and retracted in the line of feed during each stitch forming cycle by the mechanism illustrated and described in app-licants co-pending application Serial No. 10,621, and these movements. are timed with relation to the movements of the presser foot lever i2, so that the advancing movement to feed the work takes place while the work is clamped, and the retracting movement takes place while the work is released. .The work is thus. fed past the stitch-forming devices, of which the curved awl and the curved hook needle are indicated respectively at l4 and I6.

In addition to the needle, the thread handling devices acting on the needle thread consist of a needle threading looper l8, a thread arm 29 for drawing out a bight of thread between the looper and the work, a loop taker 22 in the form of a shuttle for passing a loop of needle thread over the locking thread case, a loop spreader 24 to spread the loop for the loop taker, a. take-up, a thread lock and a needle thread pull-off or thread measurer.

The presser-foot actuating mechanism of the illustrated machine is constructed and arranged to hold the presser foot yieldingly in contact with the work during the backfeed of the feed carriage with the work support and presser foot, then to force the presser foot firmly against the work to grip the work between the presser foot and work support, and to lock the presser foot firmly in gripped engagement with the work during the work feeding movement of the feed carriage and also during the movement of the needle in retracting from the work. This presser foot actuating mechanism (see Figures 4 to- '7) comprises a Horton clutch, the driving member of which is actuated from the cam shaft of the machine, and the driven member of which is connected to the presser foot. The driven member of the Horton clutch is indicated at 25' and comprises a ring surrounding a three-arm driving member 28. The driven member 2% is connected to the presser foot by means of a rod 39 extending from a lug on the member 26 to the upwardly projecting arm of the presser foot lever l2. To allow for the feeding movement of the feed carriage upon which the presser foot lever is mounted, the link is provided at each end with vided between its arms with recesses in which are located the gripping rolls 36 of the clutch.

The bottoms of the recesses are formed as cam surfaces which, as the driving member is rotated in a clockwise direction, cause the rolls to be wedged between the driven and driving members so that the members are locked together and the driven member 25 is positively actuated. This movement of the driven member 26 forces the presser foot firmly against the work so that the work is clamped between the presser foot and the work support. Upon the return movement of the driving clutch member 28 in a counter-clockwise direction (see Figure '7) the'rolls 36 are freed from gripping engagement with the two members of the clutch by the action of the'spring plungers 38 seated in the arms of the driving member and bearing against the rolls. The initial position of the rolls and, consequently, the extent of the clockwise movement imparted to the driven member 26 is determined by a series of stop projections 6% which extend from plates 42 adjustably mounted on a bracket :34 supported on the reduced end of the shaft 34 and rigidly secured to the machine frame. To limit the movement of the presser foot towards the work support under the force of the spring 32, and thus avoid possible breakage of the parts in case the presser foot mechanism is actuated with no work in the machine, a spring pressed stop plunger 4G is arranged in the path of a lug 48 projecting from the driven member 26 of the clutch. This spring plunger, while limiting the: 'movement of the presser foot towards the work support permits a slight movement of the presser foot actuating and locking mechanism in case the mechanism is operated withno work in the machine.

The shaft 34 to which the driving member 28 of the Horton clutch is secured is oscillated by connections from the cam shaft 50 of the machine through connections which comprise a cam actuated lever 52 which is pivotally mounted on a long supporting shaft 54 extending forwardly of the cam shaft. The lever 52 is provided with two upwardly extending arms, one of which is provided with a cam follower engaging a groove.

in a cam 'disk 55 secured to the cam shaft and the other of which is connected by a. link 58 to an arm 6% pivotally mounted upon'a shaft 62. The arm Gil forms one member of a toggle joint, the upper member 64 of which extends from the pivotal connection of the link 58 and arm 6!) to the outer endof an arm 56 secured to the end of the shaft 3 remote from the driving member 28 of the Horton clutch (see Figure 5). The toggle joint'formed by the members 6!] and 64' is arranged so that the joint is in straightened condition at the limit of the actuating movement of the driving clutch member so that the toggle joint through the driving and driven members of the Horton clutch positively locks the presser foot in work clamping position.

in a counter-clockwise direction upon stopping the machine, thus bringing the arm. 68 into engagement with the lug (see Figure 6) and rotatingthe driven member 26 to lift the presser' foot. To avoidbreakage or injury to the parts in case the lug 10 is engaged by the arm 68 while the member 26 is held against movement, the arm 68 is connected to the shaft 62 so as to be capable of a slight yielding movement. To this end the arm 68 is loosely mounted on the shaft 62 and is yieldingly connected to an arm 14 rigidly secured to the shaft, the yielding connection comprising a coiledspring 16 seated in the arm andtending to force a projection 18 on the arm 68 towards a projection on the arm H. The extent to which the presser foot can be lifted on stopping the machine is limited by an adjustable stop rod 80 (see Figure '1) arranged to engage the presser foot lever I2.

The nature and scope of the invention having thus been indicated,'what is claimed is:-

1. A sewing machine having, in' combination with the stitch forming devices, a work support, a presser-foot, means for pressing the presser- 'foot yieldingly' against the work, a rock shaft, 9.

driving clutch member secured to the shaft, a driven clutch member, connections from the driven clutch member to the presser-foot, and means for rocking the rock shaft in one direction to release the driven clutch member, and in the other direction to move the driven clutch member to clamp the presser-foot on the work.

'2. A 'sewing'machine having, in combination with the stitch forming devices, a work support, a presser-foot, means for pressing the presserfoot yieldin'gly against the Work, a rock shaft, 2. driving clutch member secured to the shaft, a

driven clutch member, connections from said driven clutch member to the presser-foot, and mechanism for rocking the rock-shaft in one direction to release the driven clutch member, and in the other direction to move the driven clutch member to clamp the presser-foot on the work, said mechanism comprising a toggle arranged to be in straightened position at the limit of the clamping movement of the driven clutch member. '3. A sewing machine having, in combination with the stitch forming devices, a work support, a presser-foot, means for pressing the presserfoot yieldingly against the work, a Horton clutch mechanism comprising a driving member, a driven member, and clutch rolls between the members, connections from the driven clutch member to the presser-foot, and means for oscillating the driving member of the clutch to release the driven clutch member during the movement of the driving clutch member in one direction, and to actuate the ,driven clutch member during the movement of the driving clutch member in the opposite direction.

BERNARD T. LEVEQUE. 

